Lighting small places such as furniture, drawers, cabinets, tool, jewelry and fishing boxes has long presented a problem for which no adequate solution has been discovered. Flashlights have to be found before the object sought, compounding the problem. Lights found on the interior of bar cabinets are wired to an outlet and therefore need UL approval and positioning near an outlet, some further requiring the user to manually activate a switch.
The prior art shows several attempts to solve this problem, however, none have been found to be completely acceptable.
A drawer light is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,178,626 to Marcus which must be manually rotated into its operative position and is fairly large and cumbersome. This device, however, is not made for use in cabinets wherein cabinets do not have the proper mounting surface.
An enclosure light is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,442,478 to Stansbury with an automatic switch to activate the light when the drawer or glove compartment enclosure is opened. The device, however, is bulky and does not provide good lighting wherein a single bulb is used which only partially protrudes through a hole in the side of the device.
A cabinet light is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,957 to Canfield. However, the Canfield device is directed solely to cabinets and would not operate in a drawer.
Humble et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,443) relates to a solar charged, battery operated proximity light having a thermal, infrared or sonic activated sensor for when it gets dark, and a mercury switch to activate the light source. The mercury switch requires movement of the devices from a horizontal to a vertical position and when in the vertical position will remained closed, with the light source on. However, drawers and cabinets do not have such horizontal to vertical movement to activate the Humble et al device. Indeed few applications other than on a toilet cover, as suggested by Humble et al, are apparent.
An entrance door light is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,095 to Dubak et al having a magnetic switch, however, the device is not operable in drawers without an additional mating component for the switch and the light from the device is necessarily directed specifically at the lockset of a door and does not provide broad illumination.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a self-contained automatic lighting device for use in furniture, drawers, cabinets, toolboxes, tackle boxes and the like.
It is a further object to provide a self-contained lighting device for furniture, drawers, cabinets, toolboxes and the like which directs broad lighting into areas such as drawers, cabinets, toolboxes and the like as well as the area in front of the user without excess energy loss.